episode_0154

As the wind of the Transformation Period blew, the survivor, who had lost his reason in the faint mist, was pouring out his rage on everything around him.

The survivor holding a formless intangible sword in both hands and attacking everything around him,

An 8th-floor explorer, and a person significant enough to belong to a large clan, so he possessed skill that could not be underestimated.

Of course, compared to the Knights here, his skill was lacking.

Our objective right now is, after all, capture.

Because capturing is originally more difficult than killing.

Clang, clang, clang!!!

The sound of swords and the intangible sword clashing could be heard, and while the knights were parrying the survivor’s sword.

It was not easy to enter the trajectory of that sword and subdue the survivor.

Moreover, knights are people who learned how to fight with swords in the first place.

They are not particularly good at capturing or incapacitating someone.

That is, after all, a mage’s job.

However. Since my current deck is a Paladin’s deck, it’s not a good deck for subduing someone.

But I have one other means.

I took out the Memory Spirit from my pocket.

The card-shaped Memory Spirit immediately spit out one card.

That card immediately melted into the world.

[Purgatory]

A single spot marked on the survivor’s body.

Everything around it beginning to be pulled towards that spot.

But soon, it creates a target for exception handling within it.

The surrounding knights. Our party members.

Ultimately, all surrounding objects like dirt, stones, and trees began rapidly gathering at the spot.

And they stuck to the survivor, who was at the center of that spot.

The dirt solidified the movement of his arms and legs, and trees and grass fixed the dirt.

Finally, as small stones added weight, the survivor could no longer move and was forced to collapse on the spot.

“Grace!!!”

“Yes!!!”

Grace immediately ran forward and began freezing the dirt by emitting cold air.

Ultimately, the survivor turned into a giant ball of dirt.

Having only his head sticking out from inside was slightly unusual, but for now, the subjugation was successful.

“Grrrrrr……!!!!”

The survivor expressing his rage with growls, as if he were a ‘beast’.

No matter how you look at it, he does not seem to be in a normal state.

“…What on earth happened? Disciple of the Magic Tower Lord.”

Sir Kaiser, a knight, had reached my side at some point.

He moves the survivor’s face this way and that to examine it, but.

He expressed doubt at the still aggressive attitude.

“Things like this should probably be left to mages. Can you help?”

“I will check for now.”

I raised my mana and spread my senses.

Immediately, I thoroughly examined every part of the survivor’s body.

“……?”

Divine power, dark mana, and even something unknown.

A total of three kinds of energy could be felt from the survivor’s body.

There was nothing like this at all until just now…?

“Has something like this happened before?”

“…This is the second time. The first time, there were no survivors at all. Since the mage dispatched to this Knight Order also didn’t know much, we requested an investigation team from the Guild just yesterday.”

Seeing me carefully examining the survivor, Sir Kaiser asked back with a somewhat expectant expression.

“Do you understand something?”

“It’s not certain, but there’s a possibility the Ariel Church is involved.”

“What impious talk is that?!! The Ariel Church couldn’t possibly do that!”

“In a world where a Saintess is colluding with a black mage, it’s not impossible for that to happen.”

“That may be true, but…”

Sir Kaiser, was he a devout follower to some extent?

But even so, he admitted it.

“…Certainly, not everyone is benevolent.”

“And with black magic and something unknown mixed together…”

At that moment, Noah, who was beside me, cut me off and chimed in.

“It seems like black magic and divine magic are assisting something.”

“…Now that you mention it, it does seem that way.”

“Who is this person?”

As if not caring about Sir Kaiser’s words, Noah continued to state his conjectures.

“The arrangement and pattern of black magic are things I’ve seen often. It seems like there’s help from someone of a captain rank.”

I also immediately put my magic staff into the survivor’s mouth and checked his tongue.

“It’s similar to the Ariel Church’s suicide magic applied to black mages. It probably means there are still groups colluding with black mages remaining. Or perhaps the faction of the expelled Saintess.”

“You people…”

Sir Kaiser’s voice was heard, but that wasn’t important now.

I was slowly beginning to grasp a sense of this ‘something’ that my expanded senses were reading.

“I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

“I think so too. I don’t remember clearly though.”

“……Haa, that’s why mages are like this.”

Sir Kaiser’s receding footsteps slightly intruded and disrupted my concentration, but.

Soon, I found a clue within my deep memories.

“…Werewolf.”

One of the 7 Sins, whom I met briefly during the District 11 incident.

The 7th floor was vampires, and the 8th floor is werewolves, huh?

Surely, other Sins haven’t gone to other floors, have they?

“Do you happen to have any information about the 9th or 10th floors?”

At my question, Sir Kaiser, who was a little distance away, suddenly rushed over.

“How did you know that? That something strange has been happening on the upper floors of the Labyrinth recently.”

“Something similar happened on the 7th floor as well.”

“…I did hear something about it, but. Are you saying one of the 7 Sins is responsible for this 8th floor incident too?”

“Perhaps they might be doing it simultaneously on the 9th, 10th, or even other floors.”

“……”

An intuition that this might be a bigger problem than expected.

It seems Sir Kaiser felt the same way as me.

“I will send word to other floors. And… from now on, I will send all explorers on the 8th floor outside.”

Leaving Sir Kaiser, who was about to go give orders to the Knight Order, behind.

I began preparations with Noah to dispel the magic cast on the survivor.

First, Noah removed the dark mana on the surface, then peeled off the divine power behind it.

Then what remained was the unknown magic? Or something like a curse.

There was no need to worry about that.

“…As expected, it’s disappearing on its own.”

After all, only divine magic can affect a human body.

As the mixed divine power was removed, the ‘something’ that was driving him mad with rage and turning him into a beast, which was affecting his human body, naturally dissipated.

Then his pupils slowly returned, and the survivor, who had been filled with rage, began to return to normal.

“……Where is this?!”

“Have you regained your senses? Do you remember anything?”

“Ah, Aaaah…!!”

The survivor suddenly began to wail and shed tears.

It seems he probably remembers.

Shwaaaaa-

Just then, the wind of the ‘Transformation Period’ blows.

“Grace. Let’s release him for now.”

“…Yes.”

Immediately the ice melted, and when Noah lightly tapped it, the restraints made of dirt and trees were released.

At the same time, the survivor collapsed with a thud and continued to wail.

As the wind carrying thick mist happened to blow, we appropriately gave him some space.

While the world changed, only one mournful voice continued to resonate.

*

The wind mixed with mist passed, and the 8th floor changed its appearance once again.

The temperature instantly dropped, causing breath to become visible, and the wide-open view allowed sight into the far distance.

A desert completely covered in sand on all sides.

But there was something strange: even though the Transformation Period had clearly passed, it was still dark.

In the cloudless sky, an impressively large full moon was floating.

The name of this terrain where the sand, bathed in moonlight, has a bluish glow is.

“…Blue Desert.”

Before entering the Labyrinth, I had heard from Jack that it was one of the quite famous terrains on the 8th floor.

The reason is just one: since it’s night from the beginning, you can’t tell when the ‘Transformation Period’ is coming.

But because of that, I couldn’t shake off the question that suddenly came to mind.

The record left by the main god of the 2nd floor, Gallius the werewolf who was there, became stronger when he received moonlight.

Considering that modern werewolves operate on a similar mechanism.

This current environment was flowing too favorably for werewolves.

“…Jack, is there a way to induce the Transformation Period on the 8th floor?”

“I haven’t heard of it. If something like that existed, someone would have already fixed it to a convenient terrain.”

If so, there is only one culprit who caused the Labyrinth’s change.

The Evil God.

He seems to be up to something again this time.

Just then, I sensed someone approaching me.

Turning my head, I saw it was the survivor.

Sir Kaiser was beside him.

Immediately, the survivor bowed his head to me.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“…Yes.”

As if to get straight to the point, the survivor began speaking while drawing on the sand with his intangible sword.

“The beginning was nothing unusual. As usual, we were fighting a group of monsters, our paths having accidentally crossed.”

“Then, some priests and clerics arrived, saying they would help us who were injured. They did something while treating us.”

“Why would you trust such suspicious individuals…?”

“Among them, there was a Cardinal…”

A Cardinal.

He is the second-in-command of the Ariel Church, right below the Pope.

As such, there are quite a few people who recognize their faces.

Even I recognize them to some extent, so how could I not recognize a Cardinal?

“That person mediated our fight and even treated our injuries, how could we not trust them?!”

Kaiser, who was beside him, nodded.

But anxiety showed on his face, giving the impression he had heard unbelievable information.

“Rage…. They said that was the trigger. From the fragmented memories remaining, it seemed the objective was to break down large clans with deep-seated conflicts.”

“How many people were in that group?”

“If I were to tell you what I saw after being controlled, it was a group from the Ariel Church, and black mage groups.”

After talking for a while, the survivor suddenly clutched his head as if it were throbbing, and said.

“Ugh…. I definitely said something.”

“Try to recall.”

“……Ah.”

As if it had finally come to mind, the survivor shouted loudly.

“They said they were changing the plan!! That two key individuals had appeared!!!”

Perhaps those key individuals refer to Noah and me.

…Did they already know?

As if reading something from my expression, Sir Kaiser looked at me and said.

“Does something come to mind?”

“Well……”

Should I tell the truth about this? But….

Just as my mind was becoming complicated with all sorts of complex circumstances.

From a distance, a knight member rapidly approached.

“Ca- Captain!!!!”

“What is it?!!”

The knight member’s eyes were shining bluer than anything else.

Is that the power of [Far Sight]?

“Suddenly, a group of humans is approaching this way!!!”

“…According to what this person said, if there’s a Cardinal in that group, it’s absolutely impossible to face them with this number of people.”

“In that case…”

“……”

Sir Kaiser, who hesitated for a moment, immediately gathered everyone.

Before long, the entire Knight Order was gathered here.

“It is our duty to stop those who disrupt the order of the Labyrinth. It may be hard to overcome, but we cannot retreat. Everyone, prepare for battle!!!”

“”Yes!!!”

The knights beginning to form a battle formation.

Seeing them move swiftly is truly admirable.

Meanwhile, Sir Kaiser came towards us, bringing the survivor.

“Can I leave this person with you?”

At Sir Kaiser’s words, the survivor was startled and protested.

“No!! I will fight too!! For the revenge of my comrades…!”

“No, you will take this person and leave the Labyrinth at midnight.”

Immediately, Sir Kaiser took something out from inside his helmet and placed it in the survivor’s hand.

“It’s a video recording magic tool. The information we just heard is perfectly preserved as a video. Deliver this to the Guild Master.”

“Why the Guild Master?”

“…Because I can’t trust anyone or anything other than the Guild Master.”

Sir Kaiser’s expression as he said that looked somewhat disheartened.

“Go quickly!! Focus on conveying that information more than on our lives!!”

Saying that, Sir Kaiser was trying to make us leave.

I couldn’t ignore those words.

For one, this world has a status system, and he is a noble.

And because knights stationed in the Labyrinth have the authority to make recommendations to explorers.

But it’s only to the extent of being able to make recommendations.

The choice can be decided by individual explorers.

“We will fight.”

If the opponent were just a normal monster, perhaps.

The Ariel Church, including a Cardinal.

And black mages and even werewolves.

Because there are too many parts we can counter.

As if respecting our choice, Sir Kaiser nodded his head.

“……Is that so. In that case, I will select a few members from our Knight Order.”

He immediately gave orders to a few knight members, and they departed.

And before long, a group of humans began to appear on the edge of the horizon.

After I finally fed a card to the Memory Spirit and completely finished arranging even the Joker card.

Before they approached, I used one card.

[Eternal Light]

A sphere of light illuminated the darkness, and at the same time, a blessing descended upon everyone.

“Is this power that of the Ariel Order…?”

A slight doubt was contained in Sir Kaiser’s gaze as he looked at me, but having cast it aside for now, he prepared to face the enemies.

The sandy desert illuminated by moonlight.

The series of groups approaching us stopped moving.

Black mages wrapped in dark mana surged forward.

They immediately began pouring out monsters from within ripped spaces.

Ding!!

『Malice has been detected. Draw 4 cards.』

『Energy 5/5』

『Joker Card – Draw 1 designated card additionally on the first turn.』

The status window announced the start of the battle.